Ukraine police say received over 2,000 bomb threat reports in three hours

This photograph shows the explosion of a bomb during training with Ukrainian servicemen of the 18th Sloviansk Brigade on January 28, 2026. [AFP]

Ukraine's national police said Friday it had received more than 2,000 reports of bomb threats nationwide over a three-hour period, warning that government buildings and other venues had been affected.

Ukraine has been a frequent target of Russian cyberwarfare over the nearly four years since Moscow invaded, but such waves of bomb threats are rare.

Between 09:30 am and 12:10 pm (1010 GMT), "police departments had received more than 2,000 reports of bomb threats" sent to government bodies, businesses, banks, and educational institutions across most of Ukraine's regions, the national police said in a statement.

Officers have checked about a third of the reports and said no bombs were found at the locations.

Another wave of bomb threats in Ukraine occurred in 2023 and targeted schools.